Ok so I am reaching out now after about five years of frustration and trying to figure out what's going on or what am I doing wrong. I met this girl five years ago and long story short we got married. Her aunt had some hunting land she let me hunt on, on the end of a swamp 40 acres parrellel to a highway. I setup shop with baiting during legal times of the year on the edge of her property with a nice shack about 50-60 yards away from my pile and game camera. And in the last five years I've manage to harvest deer but this goes back to my main concern. I've caught bucks and mature does on my camera several times in the last five years as they'll be there early in the year up to about September and then they disappear, and I'm having especially in the last three years different deer show up every year. And I'm getting bucks I've never seen one day then they are gone for the year. I can't seem to figure out what's going on! I did manage to get a 7 pointer three years ago that I've never seen come through before. My gues is they are crossing through the swamp and I'm not seeing them. But I don't understand how they'll nail my bait then disappear the bucks mostly. If somebody could help id appreciate it. Thank you!

Since you didn't tell us where you are located, or any description of hunting that goes on around your area, it's hard to be specific. Besides, we are talking about deer so specifics don't apply, anyhow. I'd imagine that there may be some hunting pressure being applied on properties surrounding yours. Also, it's not unusual for the deer to simply vanish during the rut. There could be better food sources, such as a heavy acorn crop in the swamp that pulls them away from your bait, or there could be some agriculture or food plots on surrounding properties. It's not unusual to see strange bucks during the rut, when they are out cruising for hot does, and during the pre-rut the younger bucks are being pushed out of the area by the bigger more dominant bucks. Those big dominant bucks will lock down on does that about to come into heat, and often manage to keep those does corralled in the bedding areas. You might actually need to search out travel routes and go into the swamp (if you have permission to hunt it) in order to find out exactly where the deer are holding up. Another thing to remember is that often deer will change their patterns when the weather changes. What they do in the spring and summer may not be what they do in the fall and winter. I'd move that trail camera to some other locations and leave it for a week or two and see what shows up in the pictures, and then decide where to relocate my stand, if I were in your position.

This year is the first time in a long, long while that I've found corn in the belly of a deer I've shot. That is probably because the acorn crop was a flop, and they are hitting the feeders. Normally I see zero corn. That tells me something.

My guess in your case is something similar: there is something more attractive to the deer than your bait.

I hunted a similar situation year ago: deer like crazy until season started then they pulled a disappearing act. In that instance, the problem was a combination of poaching and lack of food.

You may want to consider something besides bait to bring them in. It may be a food plot with some sort of late-season delicacy might bring them in after they've worn out the acorns. I don't know what that might be-- I'm not familiar with your area, but it might be a line to research.

Deer eat and can/have survived without bait piles for a LOOONG time. They are not "disappearing" from your area. They may be disappearing from the keyhole view that you see if you can only locate them by camera over a bit pile, which is in reality only a microview of the areas they inhabit.

Find out what other natural foods they eat in your area, which kinds of those food sources are present in your area, and then learn how to ID and locate them. Then your deer will "reappear".

Yeah I apologies I hunt in Antigo, WI, and I have been moving my camera around a bit I have two. I have come to find out that the property behind the one I'm hunting on has let somebody hunt their land the last two years pretty heavy. There is a guy on the other side of my 40 with a food plot but we posted all the cams there and nothing I haven't seen on mine. I mean I am keeping does to my main area consistently so maybe that will get the big guy in. It's so close to the hunting opener here, I'm not sure if I want to poke around much. I tried apples longer this year and it seem to attract more bucks than the corn. The food plot consist of wintergreen and alfalfa. And we've seen all does on that. I'm beginning to wonder if the back property has something better than mine. Not many oaks where I'm at a lot of slash. It just gets a tad frustrating but maybe I'll have to go deeper in the swamp, its a possibility they are passing by through there. The swamp is super thick cover. And before I forget my lands right outside the Menominee res. thanks for the comments!

My guess is, it simply what is called range shift. At different times of the year, some or all deer may completely change their home range. This is most common in late summer or early autumn and is tied to a change in food sources. Some deer may move an appreciable distance, others just a few hundred yards. Perfect example is when they move from field or food plots to woods when the mast starts dropping.

Thank you everybody for your information. Please keep on noteing in, so I can learn from all prospectives. I guess from what I read brings up another question, Can I do anything to bring them back to my property? Thank you again for all your help!

Check with local feed and seed dealers, or county extension agents and find out what type of food plots attract and hold deer in your area. Then plant several plots on your hunting land and don't just rely on bait.

lukek33 wrote:Thank you everybody for your information. Please keep on noteing in, so I can learn from all prospectives. I guess from what I read brings up another question, Can I do anything to bring them back to my property? Thank you again for all your help!

I guess it won't be possible to bring them back plus even if you'll bring them back it would take a long time to get cope up with all the things around So for this you may do one thing like you can build an artificial kind of house i.e similar to the one they were previously used to stay.